Douglas Garland triple-murder trial jurors see images Crown says are bodies on suspect's farm

There were tears in a Calgary courtroom and an abruptly requested break for jurors Monday as aerial photos were displayed showing what the prosecution says are three bodies laid out on the property where a triple murder suspect lived. The photos also show smoke from a burn barrel and the shadow of a person standing nearby.

DouglasGarland, 57,is being tried on three counts of first-degree murderin the deaths of five-year-old Nathan O'Brien, and his grandparents Alvin and Kathy Liknesin June 2014.

• For the latest testimony when court resumes Tuesday, see:Douglas Garland triple-murder trial jurors to hear DNA evidence from farm and victims' home

The photos were "created and found through, for lack of a better term, dumb luck," prosecutor Vicki Faulkner told jurors at the start of the trial, now entering its fourth week in the Court of Queen's Bench.

The images were captured on July 1, 2014, around 9:30 a.m.byPaulGagnon, a pilot and president of Peregrine Aerial Surveys, adigital mapping company contracted togather mapping datafor the City ofAirdrie.

The day after Nathan and his grandparents disappeared, images of what appear to be two adults can be seen near three small sheds on the farm where Douglas Garland lived with his parents north of Calgary near Airdrie. A smaller figure is less identifiable.

The bodies believed by the Crown to beAlvin, 66, and Kathy Liknes, 53 are face down in the grass without pants or shirts on.

The boy is"curled up on the grass," said Faulkner in her opening statement.

The two suspected adult bodies measure1.9 metres and1.7 metres, according to Gagnon's software.But he said it was too difficult to measure the smaller figure.

The day after the images from the farm were captured, Gagnon again flew over the farm. Photos fromJuly 2 show the bodies were gone.

Images taken by police later show flattened and brown grass where the bodies had been.

Disappearance after sleepover

On June 29, 2014, the boy was sleeping over at his grandparents' home in the southwest Calgary neighbourhood ofParkhill. When his mother arrived around 10a.m. the next morning, all three were gone and the house was smeared with blood.

The bodies of the missing family members have never been found, but jurors have been told DNA from all three, as well as tooth and bone fragments,werefound at the farmin rural Airdrie, just north of Calgary.

The prosecution's theory is that the bodies were burned there. A small tooth believed to belong to a child was also discovered in a pile of ashes on the farm.

• 'Most painful torture': Douglas Garland triple murder trial hears of internet search
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CCTV footage of pickup

One of the first breaks for investigators came when CCTV footage revealed an older model, greenpickupparked on the Liknes's street 38A Ave. S.W. just after 3a.m. on the morning the family memberswere discovered missing.

The Crown's first witness on Monday wasConst. GeraldBouchardwho reviewedCCTVfootage of the green pickupgathered by 50 to60 homes and businesses from June 30, 2014.

"[It] was driving around, it caught my eye," said Bouchard.

Working 14 to 16 hours a day, Bouchard began to pore over the hours of tape provided by homes and businesses. The truck had a noticeable red box lightthat made it easier to follow, he said.

After the truck parked on the Liknes's street, a shadowy figurewalked toward the victims' home.

Ninetyminutes later, around 4:50 a.m., the video shows a person getting back into the pickup, which various CCTV images then show travelling on 39th AvenueS.W., Macleod Trail, Glenmore Trailand finally Deerfoot Trail,passing Balzac, heading towardAirdrie.

Though the pickup had appeared empty before arriving in the Liknes's neighbourhood, something "large and white" was in the pickup box after leaving the victims'street.

Truck returns to crime scene

The next block of time Bouchard examined was around 7:20 a.m. when the green pickup was seen travelling from the Airdrie area to the Liknes's street. The truck drives by the house and then carries on to 37th Street and 11th Avenue the location where Garland had a standing appointment with a psychiatrist every Monday morning.

Earlier in the trial, jurors heard evidence that Garland's green pickuphad numerous similarities to the one spotted on the video.

Two weeks after themassivesearch for Nathan and his grandparents began, Garland was arrested and charged with their murders on July 15, 2014.

Garland is connected to theLiknesfamily through his sister,Patti Garland, who was in a common-law relationship with AlvinLiknes'sson, Allen.

Patti Garland, her parents and AllenLiknes all testified earlier in the trial that Garland harboured a grudge against AlvinLiknesafter a business relationship soured years earlier.

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